The Brochure on Contest Results and Holiday Days Off

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Have you ever found yourself caught up in the whirlwind of holiday preparations, only to realize that spreading joy is the true gift? On this joyful episode of the Only Child Diaries podcast, I'm sharing my personal adventure of transforming my front yard into a festive wonderland, culminating in winning the "Best Theme" category in my city's holiday decorating contest. With an array of delightful animal-themed decorations—from reindeer to Snoopy—the journey, though quirky with its delays, is a heartwarming reminder of the power of creativity and community spirit during the festive season.

Amidst the twinkling lights and festive inflatables, discover how a simple act of decorating can create magical moments and foster community connections. the real victory was the smiles and joy my decorations sparked among neighbors and passersby. Whether it was a child’s wide-eyed wonder or a neighbor’s appreciative nod, these little moments of shared happiness are what truly make the holidays special. Join me as we unwrap the joy of holiday cheer and perhaps find inspiration to sprinkle a bit of magic in your own corner of the world.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And it's like wearing a plastic bag on your head,
kind of.
Welcome to the Only ChildDiaries podcast.
I'm your host, tracy Wallace.
Have you ever felt like youdidn't receive the how-to
brochure on life, that youdidn't get enough guidance about
major life issues?
So did I.

(00:20):
You don't have to be an onlychild to feel this way.
In my podcast, we'll exploresome of the best ways to better
navigate adulting, while doingso with humor and light.
Welcome everyone to the OnlyChild Diaries podcast.
Well, hello.

(00:46):
Today I'm going to wish you aMerry Christmas, happy Hanukkah,
happy Kwanzaa, happy Holidays,happy New Year.
I know for a lot of people, theholidays are not necessarily
the happiest of times, but Ihope, however, you're spending

(01:10):
this end of the year, you'refinding some peace, some joy and
some time to relax, and I hopeyou're finding some fun in all
of it.
Now, over the last couple ofweeks I've been talking about

(01:39):
well, maybe longer than a coupleof weeks.
I've been talking aboutdecorating my front yard for
well, first for Halloween andthen for Christmas, and I told
you about the city where we livein that they finally had a
holiday decorating contest andthe judges came out and I was a

(02:01):
little frustrated because theydidn't stick to their timeline.
So every day I'd wake up andI'd check my email and I'd check
social media and they didn'tannounce the winner.
They didn't announce the winnerand I finally got an email
saying that they were going toannounce the winner on this past

(02:22):
Friday.
And I did get an email aboutthe contest and drum roll,
please.
We won one of the slots.
We were best theme.
I think there was best themedetail, community favorite, best

(02:45):
business decoration, and Iforget what the other one was.
Anyway, when the judges came out, one of them asked me what's
your theme?
And I admit I didn't reallythink about a theme, I just
thought about decorating.
Admit, I didn't really thinkabout a theme, I just thought

(03:08):
about decorating.
But I did see that that was oneof the categories before they
showed up and I thought about it.
I realized that a lot of theelements that I used were
animals.
You know, reindeer, a cat, ahorse, a dog, a rabbit, a
penguin, snoopy he's an animaland the only people that are

(03:37):
involved are depictions of Santa.
So I said, well, my theme isanimals.
And they said, oh yeah, I thinkI would have said humor,
because most of the inflatablesdo have humor as a theme, but
anyway, we won't mince words,right?

(03:58):
We won, yay, we won.
So I'm really happy.
I mean, if I hadn't won, Istill would have felt like a
winner in my heart.
It's just good to be nominated.
Anyway, I wasn't nominated, Ientered, but irregardless.
So that's the good news thedetails, if we were winners.

(04:33):
So still waiting for that,hoping it's going to come before
Christmas, but anyway, that wasnice to be recognized.
Now, they didn't want to publishthe addresses of the entries.
This is different from some ofour neighboring cities and I

(04:53):
don't blame them.
I really don't blame them, butirregardless, there are still
people that find us that driveby and stop or slow down and
look.
There's people that are walkingby with their dogs when I'm out
there, or just walking, orrunning, or however you see it,

(05:18):
and they stop and they say, wow,I really love your decorations.
Or gosh, great job.
Or wow, it makes me so happy.
So I think that's the realprize, if you will, for me is
just knowing that I've spreadjoy and happiness to my

(05:38):
community, to members of mycommunity, I mean.
There's not a lot of peoplethat say that, it's not hundreds
, you know, but there's enoughpeople, lot of people, that say
that it's not hundreds, you know, but there's enough people that
have said that, um, the facesof the kids people do bring.
There have been some peoplethat have brought their kids and

(05:59):
obviously the kids like it.
There's nothing scary about anyof the decorations.
So, anyway, very festive.
I love looking at Christmaslights.
I love driving around lookingat other people's Christmas
lights.
I did stop at a neighboring towntonight and there's this house

(06:22):
that I found that is absolutelyover the top, crazy decorated to
the point where you'd say dopeople actually live there with
all this stuff going on?
But tonight I actually got out.
I had the dog with me and I gotout because there are a lot of

(06:44):
other people that were walkingaround the house.
It's a big house, it's a Tudorhouse and it was built in 1927.
And one of the men who livedthere who's the owner?
He was talking to some people.
He had a tray of candy canesand he was talking about the

(07:06):
house.
He said that he was one of thethird owners of the house and
it's beautiful.
It has its own Instagram page,instagram account.
I looked it up Absolutely,overwhelmingly detailed.
I don't know if it's somethingto strive for, but amazing,

(07:28):
amazing, and they also doHalloween.
So it's a hobby, I do.
I see it as a hobby now.
Anyway, I was thinking about theirony of living here in
Southern California and livingthrough Christmas.
Because it's been throughChristmas, because it's been

(07:52):
fairly warm this past week, it'sstill cold at night.
I mean cold, cold, cold being arelative term to people that
are in the Midwest, maybe, orback East, but cold for me is if
it's in the 40s at night,that's cold.
I mean really cold, as if it'sin the low forties and it is.

(08:14):
It has been in the low fortiesat night, but during the day a
couple of times this week itactually got to 80.
Yes, and so I've been drivingaround looking at people's

(08:40):
Christmas decorations andthinking that this is pretty
funny, because a lot of people'shouses, yards, whatever
decorations do, revolve aroundsnowmen and the idea of snow.

(09:00):
And it's pretty funny becausethere's no way that we would
ever have snow here.
It just never snows, and notonly does it not snow, but it
also just doesn't get chilly.
So it's cute that we're tryingto have snowmen chilly.
So it's cute that we're tryingto have snowmen and some people

(09:22):
wear those Santa hats, which areunbelievably hot, especially if
it's on the warm side, and it'slike wearing a plastic bag on
your head kind of.
But anyway, we try.
We try to carry on the illusionof winter here, but it just

(09:45):
doesn't work.
You can light up your cactuswith red and green lights, but
it just doesn't work.
Anyway, that's really all thatI've got for you today.
Again, I hope that you'rehaving a good, restful time.

(10:08):
I know there's a lot of peopleat work.
I will be actually working somemyself, but I'm going to try to
enjoy the little bit of timethat I have off, eat too much
chocolate and maybe sleep in afew times.

(10:29):
So I want to wish everybodyagain a Merry Christmas, happy
Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, happyHolidays, whatever it is that
you celebrate, and we're gearingup for New Year's, so stay
tuned, everybody.

(10:49):
Next week we're going to tackleanother topic together.
I hope you might listen on andconsider rating Only Child
Diaries and writing a review.

(11:10):
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Please share it with a friendyou think might like it as well.
Visit my Instagram page, onlyChild Diaries or Facebook Only
Child Diaries Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
I'm Tracy Wallace and these arethe Only Child Diaries.